𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐈𝐋¹ || 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐘 𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐎𝐍

𝐗𝐂𝐈𝐈

✦ 𝐒𝐎𝐖 𝐈𝐓 𝐆𝐎𝐄𝐒... ✦

BACK AT THE PLAZA Aden and Annabeth left to go check their respective cabins while Thalia pulled Percy aside.

"What did Prometheus show you?"

Reluctantly, Percy told her about the vision of May Castellan's house. Thalia rubbed her thigh like she was remembering the old wound.

"That was a bad night," she admitted, "Annabeth and Rory were so little. I don't think Annabeth really understood what she saw. She just knew Luke was upset. While Rory... she was a different case, she was observant from a young age. I remember how she kept whispering that there was something weird in the house or something weird with Luke's mom."

Percy looked out of the hotel windows at Central Park. Small fires were still burning in the north, but otherwise, the city seemed unnaturally peaceful.

"Do you know what happened to May Castellan? I mean–"

"I know what you mean," Thalia said, "I never saw her have an, um, episode, but Luke told me about the glowing eyes, the strange things she would say. He made me promise never to tell. What caused it – I have no idea. If Luke knew, he never told me."

"Hermes knew," Percy said, "Something caused May to see parts of Luke's future, and Hermes understood what would happen – how Luke would turn into Kronos"

Thalia frowned. "You can't be sure of that. Remember Prometheus was manipulating what you saw, Percy, showing you what happened in the worst possible light. Hermes did love Luke. I could tell just by looking at his face. And Hermes was there that night because he was checking up on May, taking care of her. He wasn't all bad."

"It's still not right," Percy insisted, "Luke was just a little kid. Hermes never helped him, never stopped him from running away."

Thalia shouldered her bow. Again it struck Percy how much stronger she looked now that she'd stopped aging. You could almost see a silvery glow around her – the blessing of Artemis.

"Percy," she said, "you can't start feeling sorry for Luke. We all have tough things to deal with. All demigods do. Our parents are hardly ever around. But Luke made bad choices. Nobody forced him to do that. In fact –"

She glanced down the hall to make sure they were alone. "I'm worried about Annabeth. Rory and I have talked about this earlier. If Annabeth has to face Luke in battle, I don't know if she can do it. She's always had a soft spot for him."

"She'll do fine," Percy tried to reassure the huntress.

"I don't know. After that night, after we left his mom's house? Luke was never the same. He got reckless and moody like he had something to prove. By the time Grover found us and tried to get us to Camp... well, part of the reason we had so much trouble was because Luke wouldn't be careful. He wanted to pick a fight with every monster we crossed. Annabeth didn't see that as a problem. Luke was her hero. She only understood that his parents had made him sad, and she got very defensive of him. She still is defensive. All I'm saying... Don't you fall into the same trap. Luke has given himself to Kronos now. We can't afford to be soft on him."